Holidays
Holidays are always fun. When I was little, my favorite holidays were Halloween and Thanksgiving and Purim and Valentine's Day and Passover and 4th of July. They all had parts that were especially nice.
Before Halloween we would get pumpkins and carve faces in them. We would take Esmerelda out of the closet and hang her on the front door. She was a cardboard skeleton, with joints -- her arms and legs would move. We would buy candy to give out to trick-or-treaters. Sometimes we would bake Halloween cookies or cake.
On Halloween we would go home from school at lunch time to put on our costumes. For lunch we would have open-faced peanut butter sandwiches cut out in circles with a pumpkin face made out of raisins and apples.
Sometimes Mom would make our costumes, witches or ghosts or animals. One year I got to wear my ballet tutu. It was purple. It had a sleeveless leotard and a net skirt. I really loved it. Unfortunately the day of Halloween was cold, so I had to wear a coat over the costume. I hated that, because it wasn't as beautiful when covered up. The picture above shows my sister and her friend on Halloween when I was too little to go out trick-or-treating. Mae says she was a "fun witch" with a pointy hat. The picture below shows Miriam and Alice in tutus a lot like I remember mine.
In our costumes, we would walk back to school for the parade and Halloween party. Everyone would line up, class by class, even the teachers, and walk around in the schoolyard to show off our costumes. Then we would go back to our classroom to have a Halloween party. We would have cake or cupcakes and something to drink.
After school, we would come home for a quick dinner. Sometimes Mommy would make butterscotch pudding with a pumpkin face made of chocolate chips. As soon as we ate, we would put our costumes back on and go out trick-or-treating. When we were very little, Daddy would take us out, while Mommy stayed home to give candy to the kids who came to our house. When we got older, we could go with our friends. We would go up and down the block, stopping at the houses that had lights on. We would go up and ring their bells. The neighbors would open the door and we would say "Trick-or-Treat". Most of them would invite us in and ask us to show them our tricks. We would sing a song or say a poem or tell a joke. Then they would give us some candy. One year when my sister was in eighth grade, she recited the Gettysburg Address. That wasn't really fair, since she had to learn it for school anyway. But Mr. H. gave her a quarter, which was a big treat. One year on soon after Halloween my friends and I were walking home from school. A man was in his yard and asked us if we wanted some candy. We knew we weren't supposed to take candy from strangers, so we said "No thank you" and went home and told our mothers. Because he might be a bad man, the police went and talked to him. But he wasn't a bad man, just a man who had candy left from Halloween.
At Thanksgiving, we had turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce (from a can--it came out with rings around it in a very well-shaped cylinder). Sometimes my aunt made candied sweet potatoes, but I didn't like the sticky marshmallows on them. We would have apple and pumpkin pie for dessert. I always liked the apple and didn't want the pumpkin pie. That was fine--at Thanksgiving no one made me eat the things I didn't like and there were lots of things I did like. Usually we had Thanksgiving at one of my aunts' houses, but sometimes we had it at our house.
Valentine's day and Purim come close to the same time, Valentine's day on February 14, and Purim sometimes in February and sometimes in March.
For Purim we always had hamantashen, little triangle shaped cookies with prune filling. They always were my favorite cookie, and they still are. They are made in the shape of the hat of a man named Haman. The Rabbi at our Sunday School didn't like Purim, because it celebrates a holiday of vengeance. Haman was a bad person who wanted to hurt all the Jewish people. But Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai told King Ahashuerus about Haman's evil plot, and instead of hurting the Jews, Haman got hurt himself. We were afraid Rabbi Isserman would make us stop eating hamantashen, but fortunately my mother liked baking them. So we always got our treats.
These pictures are Mae's hamantashen and Lara's hamantashen.
For Valentine's Day we always got a bag of Valentines and addressed them for everyone in the class. In our school, we weren't allowed to just give Valentines to our friends, because then new kids or quiet kids might not get any Valentines, and they would feel bad. Of course, any one of us might be the kid who didn't get any or many, and then we would be the one who felt bad. So we all gave about 30 Valentines and got 30 Valentines in return. Often my mother, who was an artist, would make the big box that everyone in the class put their Valentines into. She would decorate it beautifully with lacy hearts and red paper. She would put a slot in the top. We would all go to the front of the classroom to put the Valentines into the slot, and then the teacher would take them out and distribute them to each person. I was so proud that my mother made the box. We would also have a school party on Valentine's Day, with cake. At home, Mommy would make heart shaped cookies or a heart shaped cake with pink icing. We would always make more Valentines at home, too. We learned to cut out hearts and make our own lacy doilies.
By Passover, Spring was coming and we would have new clothes for the holiday. We liked matzohs and charoses a lot. Charoses is made out of apples and nuts (but you can leave out the nuts if you are allergic) and sweet red wine and raisins. During the Passover ceremony you put a little horseradish and a little charoses on a matzoh. The bitter horseradish makes the sweet charoses taste wonderful. During the ceremony grown-ups get to drink 4 glasses of wine. Children get 4 little tastes. We really liked getting to drink a grown-up drink. Our parents didn't drink wine very often, and didn't have any real wine glasses. They had little shot-glasses that hold one ounce, so no one got a lot to drink.
The last favorite holiday was Independence Day, the 4th of July. We would go up to the Washington University campus where the fireworks display was held on the football field. I always loved the noise and the bright lights of the fireworks. My little brother was scared of them at first, but then he got to like them too. For a while we got tickets and sat inside the stadium. But then we found out that you could bring a blanket and sit on the grass. The fireworks went up very high, and then seemed to come down all around us in the field. That was even more exciting than sitting in the seats. But one time, I found out the hard way that they really DID come down all around us. I put my hand down and got burned on a little piece that hadn't gone out yet. Since then, I make sure never to sit too close.
Before Halloween we would get pumpkins and carve faces in them. We would take Esmerelda out of the closet and hang her on the front door. She was a cardboard skeleton, with joints -- her arms and legs would move. We would buy candy to give out to trick-or-treaters. Sometimes we would bake Halloween cookies or cake.
On Halloween we would go home from school at lunch time to put on our costumes. For lunch we would have open-faced peanut butter sandwiches cut out in circles with a pumpkin face made out of raisins and apples.
Sometimes Mom would make our costumes, witches or ghosts or animals. One year I got to wear my ballet tutu. It was purple. It had a sleeveless leotard and a net skirt. I really loved it. Unfortunately the day of Halloween was cold, so I had to wear a coat over the costume. I hated that, because it wasn't as beautiful when covered up. The picture above shows my sister and her friend on Halloween when I was too little to go out trick-or-treating. Mae says she was a "fun witch" with a pointy hat. The picture below shows Miriam and Alice in tutus a lot like I remember mine.
In our costumes, we would walk back to school for the parade and Halloween party. Everyone would line up, class by class, even the teachers, and walk around in the schoolyard to show off our costumes. Then we would go back to our classroom to have a Halloween party. We would have cake or cupcakes and something to drink.
After school, we would come home for a quick dinner. Sometimes Mommy would make butterscotch pudding with a pumpkin face made of chocolate chips. As soon as we ate, we would put our costumes back on and go out trick-or-treating. When we were very little, Daddy would take us out, while Mommy stayed home to give candy to the kids who came to our house. When we got older, we could go with our friends. We would go up and down the block, stopping at the houses that had lights on. We would go up and ring their bells. The neighbors would open the door and we would say "Trick-or-Treat". Most of them would invite us in and ask us to show them our tricks. We would sing a song or say a poem or tell a joke. Then they would give us some candy. One year when my sister was in eighth grade, she recited the Gettysburg Address. That wasn't really fair, since she had to learn it for school anyway. But Mr. H. gave her a quarter, which was a big treat. One year on soon after Halloween my friends and I were walking home from school. A man was in his yard and asked us if we wanted some candy. We knew we weren't supposed to take candy from strangers, so we said "No thank you" and went home and told our mothers. Because he might be a bad man, the police went and talked to him. But he wasn't a bad man, just a man who had candy left from Halloween.
At Thanksgiving, we had turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce (from a can--it came out with rings around it in a very well-shaped cylinder). Sometimes my aunt made candied sweet potatoes, but I didn't like the sticky marshmallows on them. We would have apple and pumpkin pie for dessert. I always liked the apple and didn't want the pumpkin pie. That was fine--at Thanksgiving no one made me eat the things I didn't like and there were lots of things I did like. Usually we had Thanksgiving at one of my aunts' houses, but sometimes we had it at our house.
Valentine's day and Purim come close to the same time, Valentine's day on February 14, and Purim sometimes in February and sometimes in March.
For Purim we always had hamantashen, little triangle shaped cookies with prune filling. They always were my favorite cookie, and they still are. They are made in the shape of the hat of a man named Haman. The Rabbi at our Sunday School didn't like Purim, because it celebrates a holiday of vengeance. Haman was a bad person who wanted to hurt all the Jewish people. But Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai told King Ahashuerus about Haman's evil plot, and instead of hurting the Jews, Haman got hurt himself. We were afraid Rabbi Isserman would make us stop eating hamantashen, but fortunately my mother liked baking them. So we always got our treats.
These pictures are Mae's hamantashen and Lara's hamantashen.For Valentine's Day we always got a bag of Valentines and addressed them for everyone in the class. In our school, we weren't allowed to just give Valentines to our friends, because then new kids or quiet kids might not get any Valentines, and they would feel bad. Of course, any one of us might be the kid who didn't get any or many, and then we would be the one who felt bad. So we all gave about 30 Valentines and got 30 Valentines in return. Often my mother, who was an artist, would make the big box that everyone in the class put their Valentines into. She would decorate it beautifully with lacy hearts and red paper. She would put a slot in the top. We would all go to the front of the classroom to put the Valentines into the slot, and then the teacher would take them out and distribute them to each person. I was so proud that my mother made the box. We would also have a school party on Valentine's Day, with cake. At home, Mommy would make heart shaped cookies or a heart shaped cake with pink icing. We would always make more Valentines at home, too. We learned to cut out hearts and make our own lacy doilies.
By Passover, Spring was coming and we would have new clothes for the holiday. We liked matzohs and charoses a lot. Charoses is made out of apples and nuts (but you can leave out the nuts if you are allergic) and sweet red wine and raisins. During the Passover ceremony you put a little horseradish and a little charoses on a matzoh. The bitter horseradish makes the sweet charoses taste wonderful. During the ceremony grown-ups get to drink 4 glasses of wine. Children get 4 little tastes. We really liked getting to drink a grown-up drink. Our parents didn't drink wine very often, and didn't have any real wine glasses. They had little shot-glasses that hold one ounce, so no one got a lot to drink.
The last favorite holiday was Independence Day, the 4th of July. We would go up to the Washington University campus where the fireworks display was held on the football field. I always loved the noise and the bright lights of the fireworks. My little brother was scared of them at first, but then he got to like them too. For a while we got tickets and sat inside the stadium. But then we found out that you could bring a blanket and sit on the grass. The fireworks went up very high, and then seemed to come down all around us in the field. That was even more exciting than sitting in the seats. But one time, I found out the hard way that they really DID come down all around us. I put my hand down and got burned on a little piece that hadn't gone out yet. Since then, I make sure never to sit too close.
posted by Story Time at 6:29 PM
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